Political Support and Resistance

An outside of the box analogy:

"In technical analysis, support and resistance is a concept that the movement of the price of a security will tend to stop and reverse at certain predetermined price levels." *

So one writes algorithms to be able to make speed of light buy and sell transactions for financial profit based on the percentage of probability of how one action responds to another action.  Hey, thereby causing a reaction!

Robert Cialdini in his must read book on persuasion titled, "Influence," describes paradigm shifts within a baseball game.  Ever sit at a game or in front of the screen during the Super Bowl or a March Madness basketball game and see the momentum swing from one team to another team's favor?

I have.

Support - Unselfish Team Play

Resistance - Defensive Play

Politics.  Now it gets interesting.  Or, is one entering the Emerald Forest filled with smoke and mirrors? 

I think, yes.

All the political junkies, the vocal and the silent, develop thoughts, rumors, muse leaks, report news and now fake news.  Reporters struggle for the facts and get "alternative" facts.

Now a curveball comes one's way.  Not so easy to hit that pitch in the Emerald Forest filled with smoke and mirrors.  A man executes a man in Cleveland, OH, films it and uploads it onto Facebook.  No defense.  Nationwide search ensues with unbelievable support and team work.  McDonald's employee in Erie, PA holds back the drive through french fry order and calls the cops.  Chase begins and the murderer pulls out a pistol and unloads a bullet to his brain.  He is dead.  Problem solved?  Not quite. Why did he do all this?  And, why on Easter Sunday?  Many will surmise.  Mental Illness? Religious Statement?  Spousal problems?  Financial woes?  Don't know.  He decided to fire a gun and say nothing. Yes, trouble with the curve, Dr. Eastwood.  

Next pitch.

Fastball, slider, off-speed, knuckleball?

House of Representatives

Parties: Republican: 241; Democrat: 194; Independent: 0

Gender: Men: 248; Women: 83

Race: White: 339; Black: 46; Hispanic: 33; Asian: 10; Other: 3

Senate

Parties: Republican: 52; Democrat: 46; Independent: 2

Gender: Men: 78; Women: 21

Race: White: 90; Black: 3; Hispanic: 4; Asian: 3

Political Support: Republicans (questionable - many caucuses)

Political Resistance: Democrats

In 2012, the republicans won the majority in both the House and the Senate.  In 2016, the republicans won the presidency with Donald Trump and thereby the administrative branch.  The republicans refused to meet with President Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointee, Merrick Garland.  After intense questioning and a long filibuster by democrats, republicans were able to move the vote forward with Vice President Mike Pence presiding over the nomination of Neil Gorsuch.  Although the Supreme Court is established by the Constitution of the United States of America to be non-partisan, the republicans felt, as well as did the democrats, that they were able to stack the court in republican favor after the death of Chief Justice Antonin Scalia.

Can political support and resistance ever find a middle ground?  Will we, as a nation, be able to sit at a table and bargain for what is best for the people of our country?

Or, is it all going to be dealmaking?  If you want me to give you your number one and number two, then you are going to have to give me your numbers three, four, five, six and seven.

Ever think about what is the most socialistic endeavor in our country?  It is professional sports.  Simply look at the collective bargaining agreements.  Don't just look at the agreements for the players.  Yes, an athlete has a limited amount of time to play their given sport before their body gives out.  Even the referees can only withstand so much physical wear and tear.  But what about the coaches, the assistant coaches and general managers.  In the NBA, there are no more "scouts."  They are all assistant coaches. Why, because after four years with an assistant coach title you become fully vested in the coaches pension and health plan.  The executives and front office workers do not get a pension and rather have to rely on a 401k or the ability to climb up the ladder and make enough money as quickly or hang in there as long as possible to have that nest egg for a rainy day.  if you are lucky and work your way up to reporting to the owner you may even get a percentage of the team.

You get pension based on a few systems and the amount you were paid if you stay in the Army for 20 years.  It used to be that you worked for a company for twenty years and you received a pension.  But now you get a 401k.

The sports industry is the most socialistic bargain available in the United States.  Consider all the public/private partnerships for arenas and stadiums.  One high school receives almost $2.20 per every $100 of the assessed value of a persons home.  Whether you have kids going to school or not.  Are the owners of professional teams and players Socialists?  No, I believe they are democrat and republican and swing from the left to the right and all points in between.

It begs the question, who and what are we?  Maybe, we are what is good for us at the moment and what we can legally (or illegally) get away with.   Forget about putting a label on it.

Political support and resistance.  it reminds me of the time a man told me that you could lock two people in a room overnight and in the morning they will come out with three political parties:

• Yours;
• Mine; and,
• Ours.

@markandrewz  Markie Z Letter "The Vibe" #everythingmatters

* Amiri, M.; Zandieh, M.; Vahdani, B.; Soltani, R.; Roshanaei, V. (January 2010).